Feeling the Vibe

These days it seems like there’s a workout for everyone. Something for the core fanatics, for the time-strapped, for the one who needs personal attention, for the easily bored… But what if there was one workout that covered all of it? That was the idea behind VibeClass, a Brazilian-born exercise program that’s made its way to South Florida.

Building on its popularity in Brazil, VibeClass opened its first studio on South Beach last summer before taking up residency in South Miami in January, introducing the benefits of vibration to a new crop of students. “My partner in Brazil was using vibration as a supplement to his workouts but soon started looking into how to expand and scale his training into a full workout,” says Cary Sochin, Vibe’s managing partner and a longtime fitness expert in South Florida. “He brought in fitness professionals and the 10-station concept was created.”

The workout, as Sochin explains, is made up of 10 stations, eight of which make use of vibrating platforms that intensify the exercise and add another dimension to the workout (the other two act a “freeform” exercises adapted by an on-site trainer). Students progress through the stations three times during the 45-minute program and are led through each exercise by a virtual trainer on a screen attached to the station and trainers are able to modify exercises and help students who have personalized needs.

“It’s personal training in a group setting with a max of 10 people at a time,” says Sochin. “You can make a reservation but you’re not beholden to a class time because you’re working out on your own. It’s very easy for a trainer to rework the exercise to meet your needs and then reset it back right away for the next person.”

Adding to the workout is the addition of the vibration, a technique that has long been used to aid everyone from olympic athletes to astronauts and has been lauded for its ability to not only burn fat and calories quickly but to help with flexibility, strength and injury recovery. “It really is multi-dimensional training across all disciplines. It speeds up the process of gaining strength, stamina, everything,” says Sochin. “When you add the vibration you add another dimension. And that’s why the workout is superior.”

These benefits also allow the workout to, well, work for everyone from elderly students coping with bone density issues to elite athletes looking to supplement their training. “Creative” trainers are also part of the draw—allowing for truly personalized training alongside the more technologically-driven vibe stations.

Class packages are available as well as monthly rates without any contracts or long-term commitments and times are flexible, allowing students to get a workout in on their time, not the studio. “As you advance and become more proficient and have mastered the circuit we can take students on and off the platforms to do intervals,” says Sochin. “The workout is scalable to every fitness level and every need.”

VibeClass Fitness SoMi is located at 5885 SW 73rd St., South Miami, FL 33143. For more information, please visit www.vibeclass.com or call 305.397.8398.